By Isaac Ngumah
Since God called him to ministry 20 years ago, Dr. Titus Ademola’s passion has been to see the liberation of those who are bound by satanic powers.
That desire made him start Christ Anointed Apostolic Church 13 years ago. The church is located at Odogunyan Ikorodu, Lagos.
He told Church Times that God had saved many souls through him. “I have experienced a lot of signs and wonders in the ministry. God has used me to heal leprosy. God has used me to heal protracted sicknesses.”
Ademola believes there is no point dissipating energy on fake pastors stating that “ As long as there is original there will be fake.”
He added however that anybody who wants to do ministry should not make money a priority. “If you make money a priority you will crash along the line. That is just the truth. The best thing is to focus on what God has assigned you to do. You must ask must know what God has assigned you to do in the ministry and do it.”
Easy to know fake pastors
People who are discerning enough according to him, can easily identify a man that is fake and who is only interested in his own pocket and not the redemption of the souls of men.
“The first test is to listen carefully to them. Such people don’t focus on the Bible when they preach. They talk about mundane things and give examples that are completely irrelevant to the message of the cross. They will focus on material things more than the kingdom of God. Any preacher that focuses on material things and does not preach on repentance, rapture, salvation, and subjects that can help the eternal destiny of people can’t be of God. People should stay away from such people.”
According to him, the hallmark of a true servant of God is the ability to face trials and temptations and come out unscathed.
“A true minister of God must face challenges in ministry. By the grace of God, I have faced a lot of challenges in life and ministry. There is no one that God called that the devil will not try. The devil will try you, the devil will challenge you. The devil will test you.
“Jesus went through trials and temptation when he fasted for 40 days and 40 nights. Everyone that God called must be tested. One of the challenges I faced in the ministry is the paucity of funds. But I kept on praying and God kept supplying my needs and raising people to help with the work. But it took a while before God started raising help for me. If money was my focus initially I would have crashed out.” he said
We give educational support
Apart from reaching out to rural folks with the gospel, he told Church Times that his ministry has been supportive of the education of indigent children.
“By the grace of God, we have played a significant role in helping out with the education of rural children. We organize a small school for them so that they can be educated. We are hoping to do more in this regard”
He noted that many servants of God have lost focus. “Some men of God have forgotten their past. That is the reason they live flamboyant lives which is at variance with their environment. But we are praying for them that God should touch them by himself and change them and bring them back to where he wants them to be.
“I do not condemn them. The Bible says we should not judge. I’m praying for them that God himself will touch them and put them back in the right way because a flamboyant lifestyle is not the life of the gospel”
He maintained that undue emphasis on material prosperity does not establish people in the kingdom of God. “Such gospel will only establish them on this earth. Men of God should balance it with the kingdom of God’s message so that after they are done with the prosperity on this earth they all have access to the kingdom of God.”
Private jet, not necessary for evangelism
Ademola punctured the argument that using private jets helps to enhance the spread of the gospel. “Men of God that go with private jet tell you it is for the sake of the gospel. But to my own understanding, you can spread the gospel without using a jet. There are many great men of God that don’t even have a jet. And they are very effective in their work.
“There are many ways to spread the gospel without using a jet because jet consumes a lot of money that you can use to establish the poor people and the communities and build godly communities. But today, the flamboyant life with a jet is not acceptable. It is really bringing an embarrassment to the kingdom of the gospel because people are seeing them and are saying that is how pastors are and we are now the same. I will advise that they should stop using jet in the name of doing ministry. It consumes too much money in the ministry.”
Competition among pastors
While agreeing that private jets could be used by some pastors to spread the gospel, he said, “What we have today is that pastors are now competing among themselves to own a jet. Ironically, there are places you can’t go with the jet. You still have to make do with land transportation.”
He also decried a situation where church money is used to build schools that members can’t afford to send their children to. “I believe one of the ways the church can help the nation is to help the society with some basic social amenities which I believe some churches are already doing. But we could do more.
“I think by and large, the Church in Nigeria is really trying. If not for the church, Nigeria would have turned to something else. That many Nigerians have the fear of God is a consequence of the impact of the church. There are people who live extreme lives. But if you put it on a scale, there is largely some level of sanity in the country. I encourage our members to always pray for our country. The Bible encourages us to pray for those in authority and follow peace with all men”
Back to the Book of Acts
While condemning the excesses in many gatherings, Ademola suggested there is a need for the modern Church to go back to the Book of Acts and see how the church is run. “We need to go back to how the church is run in the book of Acts and see where we have missed it. There is so much laxity in today’s church. Today, women can dress without covering their bodies properly and still take a vantage position in the church. Some even preach on some altars. That is the extent of abomination we see in the church today.”
Being a graduate of a Bible school according to him is no proof that one has been called. “It is the anointing of God in your life that qualifies you as a man of God so Bible school is just a training center to equip you for the work ahead.”
Ademola who has been married for 15 years and blessed with four children said his ministry success can largely be traced to his family “To the glory of God my marriage has been a successful one indeed because my ministry started from my family. Our marriage has been so peaceful. God has used my wife to be a blessing to the ministry.”
